Agroindustrial project analysi

THE PROCESSING FACTOR 137Food Product Research and Development in Thailand. 2 4 The institutefocused its research on the protein residue of the mung bean,which was being extracted and discarded by Thai starch factories.Through food technology the institute created a protein isolate andtransformed it by extrusion into a nutrient-dense weaning food forpreschoolers. Thus, technology was employed to recapture a wastedby-product and transform it into a form suited to use by a nutritionallyvulnerable group. 2 5Salient points for project analysisThe following questions summarize the major considerations theproject analyst should examine in reviewing an agroindustrial project'sselection of technology.Is the processing technology consistent with the qualitative requirementsof the marketplace?* Match with qualitative standards of market segments?* Incremental revenue versus added technological investment?* Technology appropriate for local and export markets?What constraints do process requirements impose?* Nature of requirements?- Number of technological options?* Scale requirements?- Demand adequate for scale?Which technology has the lowest socioeconomic costs?= Mixes of labor and capital?* Raw material usage?24. Nevin Scrimshaw and others, High-Protein Product Development inThailand, Technical Report Series, no. 1 (Cambridge, Mass.: MassachusettsInstitute of Technology, International Nutrition Planning Program, 1973).25. For further discussion of the technological options and the potentialand problems of nutritious formulated foods, see Jerianne Heimendinger,Marian Zeitlin, and James Austin, Nutrition Intervention in Developing Counfries:Formulated Foods, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),Special Study no. 3 (Cambridge, Mass.: Oelgeschlager, Gunn, and Hain, 1980);and Alan Berg, "Industry's Struggle with Malnutrition," Harvard BusinessReview, vol. 50, no. 1 (January-February 1972), pp. 130-41.